It's Been Awhile

It has been awhile since I have posted anything. We have been dealing with some tough issues in our household.

Alex is struggling with school. His grades have drastically dropped in the past two months. He has not been completing work or bringing it home. We have caught him in many lies. We have taken privileges away until his grades improve. He really wants to play Pee Wee Football this year and to play he knows that his grades as well as his behavior have to improve. It is hard to believe the change that has come over him in the past few months. First quarter he made High Honor Roll and then last time he got one "B" so he was on the Honor Roll. Now he is not getting any "A's" at all and even is close to failing in a class. We have increased his ADHD medicine recently and are just at a loss as to how to help him. God has gifted Alex with such amazing smarts and abilities. It is hard to see him not using those gifts. We are praying that Alex will find a motivation or a change in habits that propels him forward. If you have any advice or ideas that may help-please feel free to pass those along.

Another hardship in our household has been the continuation of my depression. It has been close to a year that this has been going on and I am very ready to be at a point where I could walk out of this heaviness. God has revealed many truths to me over the past year, but it continues to be a struggle to even function some days. I am on a medicine that as I continue on it hopefully will bring some help. I am also going to be seeing a counselor to talk through some issues that have come to the surface within the past few months. I believe that God is sovereign and that He knows exactly what I need and can handle right now. However, most days I feel like it is too much, but that is precisely why I am not God. :-)

Emma has also been having night terrors about two to three times a week. This of course causes a disruption in everyone's sleep. This morning she was up at 5:30. Of course, that meant that I was up too. She would not give in and go back to sleep. She is a stubborn one. (I have no idea where she gets that--must be her daddy.) Hopefully she will nap well at daycare and come home in a better mood.

Jackson and Stephen are doing well. They are both enjoying school and being with all their friends. Stephen had been going through a phase where he didn't want to be anywhere but with us. That seems to have passed and he is enjoying school, daycare, and church again. Thankfully!

Pictures from the weekend (and misc.)

Here are some pictures from the weekend. We celebrated Stephen's 5th birthday with lots of family and friends. We had so much fun enjoying everyone's company. We definetly are going to be needing a bigger space to keep celebrating these birthdays. Either that or warmer weather in January so the kids can run around outside.

Stephen wanted a giraffe cake, so I planned to make a giraffe cake. Originally I was going to shape the cake like a giraffe and everything, but then realized the stress of that was going to ruin the fun of the weekend. So I had a local bakery make the cake and just ice it with the white frosting. I then decorated it with the giraffe. When I finished and Emma knew what it was I figured it wasn't too bad, and of course when Stephen saw it and was excited-that was all that mattered. The giraffe theme carried on into the gifts. He got two stuffed giraffes and Aunt Laura and Uncle John gave him framed pictures of giraffes to hang in his room. He is thrilled.

Another big hit was his very own remote controlled car. Now all of the boys have one and they can now race each other around the yard and driveway. (Mom and Dad just have to find the chargers before spring.) :-)

Another theme for Stephen this year was art. He received a number of gifts that were art themed including an easel. Hailey and Emma were thrilled. They spent quite a bit of time at the easel and ended up with quite a bit of color on themselves as well. Thankfully they were washable markers.

The one gift that I don't have a picture of that was truly his favorite was from Daddy. It was a whoopie cushion. I rolled my eyes and thought it would be a "dud" however I had to admit it was a good idea. Such a good idea that Sunday morning it ended up popping due to over use. Prior to it popping it sure did provide a lot of laughter.

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Here are a few pictures I just had to share. Emma got a Cinderella dress up outfit for Christmas and she loves it. She already knows she is a princess so this was right up her alley.
Emma also got her big girl bed around Christmas and for Christmas got new bedding. She looks lost in this bed but she loves it.

Stephen

This week my baby boy turned 5.

So in honor of Stephen I thought I would share some of the things I love about him.

He has the best smile. It can truly light up a room.

He loves to laugh.

He has a tender heart.

He is so smart.

He has a great sense of humor.

He loves his family.

He is not afraid to try things on his own-

like trying to mix up gummy worms from a kit in his room and getting it all over.

He loves to sing.

He loves to learn.

He is learning to be his own person-not just an immitation of his brothers.

He loves giraffes.

He loves collared polo shirts. He looks good!

He is brave.

He has given me glimpses of what Aaron must have been like as a child.

I often tell him that he is my favorite Stephen. And he responds with an "I know." I will ask him how he knows and he tells me it is because I tell him that with a smile. I love him and the way his little mind processes everything. He has been such an amazing blessing to our family. I look forward to seeing what God has in store for him.

COLD-COLD-AND MORE COLD

Not much is happening around here. The boys had a 2 hour delay on Tuesday, early dismissal Wednesday-both due to snow. Then today school was cancelled. I think it was in part to the snow but more due to the frigidly cold temperatures. It has been hovering around 0 degrees today with the windchill at about -20 degrees. And it is supposed to get even colder tonight and tomorrow.

Emma had the stomach flu on Monday, but has bounced back quickly. She has recently started waking up in the middle of the night crying. It is amazing as parents that we can determine what each cry means. I will get up with her at first, due to the cry being one of fear. However, she doesn't like it when I put her back to bed and leave the room. She tries the "pity me" cry, then adds in "mommy" and then "daddy" and then the cry turns into the "I'm mad hear me roar". But amazingly no matter how long we let her cry she can turn it off in an instant, and the boys sleep right through the crying. Only mommy and daddy suffer a lack of sleep. I just keep reminding myself that "this too shall pass"-I just hope it is sooner rather than later.

Well, I hope wherever you are that you are able to stay safe and warm. I am not a "cold weather person" at all. But I was walking across the parking lot at work today and was reminded about how cool God is. It always amazes me how quiet the world seems when it is snow covered. I also notice God's creation in new ways. Today I got to see a number of deer running through the woods behind the offices and then 2 bright red cardinals. It was beautiful to see the red birds against the white snow and leafless trees. No matter how you feel about the cold, take a moment and enjoy the beauty of God's creative creation. And do your best to stay warm.

Pictures...Finally

Here are a few pictures from Christmas.

Just before Christmas we got a bit of snow and quite a bit of ice. The boys all went out to play in the snow and Emma wanted to go as well. This was the first time she had all of her snow "stuff" on. She wasn't too sure about it and really did not enjoy being outside at all.

Emma did however enjoy getting dressed up for Christmas services.

She really liked her "sparklies" aka her shoes.

On Christmas Eve the boys helped read the Christmas story with Grandpa Maxson.

The way it looked before the kids woke up on Christmas morning.

Alex got a Star Wars Transformer, in his favorite character.
Jackson got yet another elephant. Which he loved.

One of these days I will have to count the number of elephants he has in his collection.

Stephen got his giraffe. He was soooo excited. Yes, it is about 5 ft tall.

Sometimes when you walk into the playroom it feels a bit like a zoo.

Emma got a table and chairs as well as some more cooking utensils for her kitchen. She plays and cooks just about every day. She loves to make chocolate. (That's our girl!)

An Memorable Christmas Season

The past few weeks have been filled with much laughter, fun, and family. It has also had some scary and tearful moments as well. We have enjoyed three holiday programs that some of the kids were involved in. They had fun and they are still singing the songs. And then Christmas:

(I will post pictures at a later time.)

Christmas Eve brought tradition as we enjoyed "Carols and Candlelight" at my parent's church with all of the family. We then headed to my mom and dad's house for our traditional Christmas meal. It is a meal we all look forward to each year. Then we enjoyed the tradition of reading the Christmas story from Luke and Matthew. This year Grandpa was helped by Alex and Jack. They did a great job. We then enjoyed the gift giving. Always fun. Scary moments followed though, as we received a phone call from the neighbor that they had called 911 due to the chimney in my parent's house catching on fire. We quickly evacuated the house and watched as the police and fire department gathered to stop the fire and keep it from spreading. The fire was put out and we then entered the house to find a mess. However, no mess was too much of an issue, as we gathered to thank God for His safety and protection over each of us and the house.

Christmas morning came early and we enjoyed a big family breakfast (just the 6 of us) and then moved on to the presents. There were not as many gifts under the tree this year, but they were gifts that each child really enjoyed and appreciated. We then were lazy for the rest of the morning and early afternoon--including some good naps. We headed over to my parent's house again for some extra time with my brother and his wife. It was a good day. Much quieter than the previous.

Friday we had another lazy day. It was great. We spent some of the evening at my in-laws house as my brother-in-law and his family had come down from Chicago. It was nice to just be together.

Saturday morning we planned to celebrate Christmas with the Christner side of the family. However, plans quickly got moved back as we got the phone call that Grandpa King (Aaron's mother's dad) had passed away. We gathered the boys together and shared the news with them. They did not fully grasp all that was happening at that time. The tears for them came later.

We did end up sharing gifts that afternoon. It was a good release from the grief of earlier in the day. The hit of the day was the Wii that we received as our family gift. We set it up and tried it out. Everyone got involved. My mother-in-law showed us all that in a boxing ring she is NOT to be messed with.

Sunday was a quieter day as we spent time together with family and then our small group in the evening. But we all knew what Monday would bring; a time to say good-bye to a man we all loved. And Monday came. It was a time for remembering. Grandpa's service was well-done and the message of Christ and His salvation was clearly presented. Grandpa was then honored at the graveside with military honors. It was as he would have wanted it.

We look at 2009 with wonder. What will it hold? I am sure that there will be much laughter, fun, and family. (A new family member in April and a graduation from Medical school in May.) I know that it will probably hold some scary and tearful times as well. But through it all there is One constant. Our God. He never changes and His love for us is perfect. I hope that you know God and His love as you enter this next year. It will only make it sweeter.

Holiday Madness

It is hard to believe that just a 2 1/2 weeks ago we were celebrating Thanksgiving and

now here we are 10 days from Christmas.

A lot has happened in the past few weeks. We have had some boo-boo's that were scary, some illnesses that have required much medicine, and we spent 4 wonderful days in PA

(which includes 10 hours one way in a car with 4 kiddos).

Thankfully it looks like we are on the upswing with getting over illnesses and boo-boo's. Last week Emma fell head first over the handle bars of a tricycle at daycare directly onto a concrete floor. Her upper lip was extremely swollen, fortunately her teeth seem to be fine. In fact you can't even tell now that she fell. Emma is now fighting a nasty cold, that thankfully is not pneumonia (a classmate at daycare just came down with it), my migraines are now at least at a controlled state of manageability. We have spent more in the past week on Dr's visits and medicines than we had in the past three months.

We traveled to PA and spent time with people we dearly love. PA after all these years still feels a bit like home to me. We always end up having the discussion about moving east,

this year was no different.

While a lot of what we have done in the past few weeks is good and necessary, I have often felt that the season is being forgotten, in my own heart as well of the rest of the family. I keep wishing for just one day-to slow down, relax, reflect, etc... and that doesn't look like it will be possible with everything going on this week. Why the unsettled feelings? I know the truth of the season. I am no less grateful this year for the Gift that I have been given. Is it the economy and the fact that money is tight-for everyone? Is it seeing all the hurting people around me and wishing I could fix it? Is it watching the commercialism and consumerism of such a precious life-giving holiday? I'm not sure, but it is my goal to continue to seek the One who was born that Christmas night long ago. It is my hope to reflect Him during the craziness of the next few days. It is my prayer that others will be enraptured with Emmanuel--God With Us.

For He truly is the Reason for this Season.